In case you had a little wtf-moment; I changed the name of the story from 'Gilded Black' into 'He is Mine' because it fits better. (:
"Opal?" Ivory stared into the antique mirror. "Opal!"
Once again, she didn't hear from him. Frustrated, she clenched her fists. She knew her brother could hear her; if Onyx had been here he would certainly have shown himself.
Not that she would know what to say to him if she had seen his face. There wasn't much news to tell him. But this mirror felt like the only connection to her world and she noticed how her former life started to feel more and more like a dream.
Being human started to take its toll. It frightened her. She didn't want to lose her memories, even though some were so painful a name was enough to torture her. But without memories... she was nothing. No one. That was even inhuman for a non-human creature.
Ivory turned away from the mirror, slipping out of her brother's room when she heard the front door open. She had no idea where he'd gone to. Nor did she care; he did his own thing anyway.
His eyes rested upon her as she sat down on the couch. He was always hard to read. Sometimes she believed he felt remorse. His body language told her, and she saw it in the way he could stare out of the window. He never said a word about it. She didn't ask about it.
He could return if he wanted.
He could.
They wouldn't make it easy for him, but she believed father would give him a second chance.
"I found him."
His voice dragged her out of her thoughts. She sat up a little straighter. "You did?"
She had always been a bit skeptical about his ability to lure the boy to this town. In their homeland his powers were undisputed, but here... here nobody knew the exact effects.
He leaned against the dinner table, his ankles crossed. "I did."
"What was he like?"
Onyx shrugged his shoulders. "A loner. Young. Insecure. Not exactly a social genius."
She lifted the corner of her mouth. "As if you're describing yourself. Leaving out the insecure part, then."
He scowled at her.
She didn't let it distract her. "You found out anything?"
"He fell off a stairs and strained his ankle. Pain controlled his thoughts, so I couldn't make much sense of it. I did get a hold on some visions when I picked up his drawings. Something with dungeons and dragons, some role playing game if I interpreted it right. It felt like a loss, something he misses."
Ivory took in the information, nodding slowly.
At least that was something. A good starting point.
"Is the library still open?" she asked her brother, who spend an absurd amount of time there.
"Until 8."
"Shall we go there and see if we can find a book about that game? The sooner I have a connection with him, the better."
For a moment Onyx seemed to be lost in thoughts, then he nodded. "Okay."
Ivory put on her shoes and left the house, together with Onyx. Outside she climbed on the back of his Harley and held his sides.
Ten minutes later they entered the library. Ivory hadn't been here a lot of times. Although her brother tried to learn about this world by reading books, she preferred observing people. Spending a year on a high school had certainly paid off. But this game... She had never heard anyone mention it.
Onyx led her to a shelve with books about leisure activities. His nails were tapping on the spines of the books as he read the titles. Ultimately, he pulled out two weighty looking tomes which he handed to her.
She stared at them. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, was written on the cover in a graceful font. On the front the inside of some sort of temple was depicted, with a by fire surrounded bull-like creature that was worshiped by priests. She glanced at the other one. There was an illustration of a green dragon, its mouth opened while a warrior was lashing out at it.
Whatever it was – apparently it required a vivid imagination.
Sighing, Ivory turned page after page. Her eyes felt tired. She was reading for over an hour and she didn't understand much of it. All kinds of people and creatures were the described in it. Rubbing her face, she looked up to Onyx, who was laying stretched out on the couch. One arm was shoved underneath his head, his other hand holding a book above his face.
"Why don't you read the other book?" she complained. "Instead of whatever you're reading now?"
"Nah," he snorted. "This is your mission."
She rolled her eyes. "You want me to succeed too, right?"
"Hmm-hmm. But I'm in no hurry. I kinda like it around here."
Angrily, she gritted her teeth. "Easy for you to say, you still have your powers."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Yours!" Suddenly she could no longer keep her frustration to herself. "You betrayed me! You ratted on me!"
Onyx pushed himself away from the couch and got up. His light blue eyes changed colors; they became red as blood. A tremor spread through the floor and she flinched. Especially now she was unable to defend herself, she feared his outbursts.
"Sorry," she whispered, staring at the floor.
His ice cold fingers curled around her chin, lifting her head. His eyes were still glowing. "How dare you to speak of betrayal. I protected our people. It was your weak soul that almost destroyed us."
Tears were stinging in her eyes. Memories tumbling through her head, memories of Cyrus. "I loved him," she whispered.
"Love is for humans," he huffed. "You're a disgrace to our people."
She clenched her hands to fists, cursing her brother because he called love a weakness. It had required a terrible amount of courage to do what she had done. "I hope you fall in love too one day," she grumbled. "And that you will know the pain of losing someone in a brutal way."
She pushed her brother away and rushed to her room, tears streaming down her cheeks.
His hollow laughter followed her. "I'm damn sure that's never going to happen, little sister."